HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Uraeus (), or Ouraeus (
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
: , ;
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
: ', "rearing cobra"), ''(plural: Uraei)'' is the stylized, upright form of an
Egyptian cobra The Egyptian cobra (''Naja haje''), also known as Ouraeus ''(derived from the Ancient Greek word: ''οὐραῖος'' - )'', is one of the most venomous snakes in North Africa, which has caused many snakebite incidents to humans. It averages rou ...
, used as a
symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
of
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
,
royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...
,
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
and divine authority in ancient Egypt.


Symbolism

The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess
Wadjet Wadjet (; egy, wꜢḏyt "Green One"), known to the Greek world as Uto (; grc-koi, Οὐτώ) or Buto (; ) among other renderings including Wedjat, Uadjet, and Udjo, was originally the ancient local goddess of the city of Dep. It became part ...
.Egyptian-Gods She was one of the earliest
Egyptian deities Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...
and was often depicted as a cobra, as she is the serpent goddess. The center of her cult was in
Per-Wadjet Buto ( grc, Βουτώ, ar, بوتو, ''Butu''), Bouto, Butus ( grc, links=no, Βοῦτος, ''Boutos'')Herodotus ii. 59, 63, 155. or Butosus was a city that the Ancient Egyptians called Per-Wadjet. It was located 95 km east of Alexandri ...
, later called
Buto Buto ( grc, Βουτώ, ar, بوتو, ''Butu''), Bouto, Butus ( grc, links=no, Βοῦτος, ''Boutos'')Herodotus ii. 59, 63, 155. or Butosus was a city that the Ancient Egyptians called Per-Wadjet. It was located 95 km east of Alexandri ...
by the Greeks. She became the patroness of the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
and the protector of all of
Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...
. The
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s wore the uraeus as a head ornament: either with the body of Wadjet atop the head, or as a crown encircling the head; this indicated Wadjet's protection and reinforced the pharaoh's claim over the land. In whatever manner that the Uraeus was displayed upon the pharaoh's head, it was, in effect, part of the pharaoh's crown. The pharaoh was recognized only by wearing the Uraeus, which conveyed legitimacy to the ruler. There is evidence for this tradition even in the
Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...
during the third millennium BCE. Several goddesses associated with or being considered aspects of Wadjet are depicted wearing the uraeus as well. At the time of the unification of Egypt, the image of
Nekhbet Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebit) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron d ...
, the goddess who was represented as a white
vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
and held the same position as the patron of
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient ...
, joined the image of Wadjet on the Uraeus that would encircle the crown of the pharaohs who ruled the unified Egypt. The importance of their separate cults kept them from becoming merged as with so many Egyptian deities. Together, they were known as the Nebty or the
Two Ladies In Ancient Egyptian texts, the "Two Ladies" ( egy, nbtj, sometimes anglicized ''Nebty'') was a religious epithet for the goddesses Wadjet and Nekhbet, two deities who were patrons of the ancient Egyptians and worshiped by all after the unificati ...
, who became the joint protectors and patrons of the unified Egypt. Later, the pharaohs were seen as a manifestation of the sun god Ra, and so it also was believed that the Uraeus protected them by spitting fire on their enemies from the fiery eye of the goddess. In some mythological works, the eyes of Ra are said to be uraei.


Golden Uraeus of Senusret II

In 1919, after only a half-hour of excavation, the Qufti worker Hosni Ibrahim held in his hands the solid-
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
''Golden Uraeus of
Senusret II Khakheperre Senusret II was the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1897 BC to 1878 BC. His pyramid was constructed at El-Lahun. Senusret II took a great deal of interest in the Faiyum oasis region and began work on an ...
''. It had been decided to make a (follow-up) "complete clearance" of the
El-Lahun El Lahun ( ar, اللاهون ''El Lāhūn,'' alt. Illahun, Lahun, or Kahun (the latter being a neologism coined by archaeologist William Matthew Flinders Petrie) is a workmen's village in Faiyum, Egypt. El Lahun is associated with the Pyramid of ...
Pyramid's rooms at
Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...
. The start in the rock-cut offering chamber, leading from the tomb, on the south, immediately revealed in the turnover of the six inches of debris, the Golden Uraeus crown ornament. Before
Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
's tomb was found in 1922, this Golden Uraeus was the only ornament ever known to be worn by an entombed pharaoh, and it was thought that it was passed to the next pharaoh. The Golden Uraeus is of solid gold, , black eyes of
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, a snake head of deep ultramarine
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
, the flared cobra hood of dark
carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...
inlays, and inlays of turquoise. To mount it on the
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
's crown, two loops in the rear-supporting tail of the cobra provide the attachment points.


As a hieroglyph

Besides the Uraeus being used as an ornament for statuary or as an adornment on the pharaoh, it also was used for
jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
and in
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
s. However, another important use is as the
hieroglyph A hieroglyph ( Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatoni ...
. For ''Uraeus'' ornament as a
mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...
grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
example, ''See: ''
Djedptahiufankh Djedptahiufankh (c. 969 – c. 935 BCE) served as Second Prophet of Amun and Third Prophet of Amun during the reign of Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty. Family and career Djedptahiufankh is only known from his burial and mummy. He held the title of ...
, High Priest of 21st Dynasty,
Shoshenq I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-secon ...
. The simplest hieroglyph is the "Cobra" (the Uraeus); however there are subcategories, referring to: a goddess, a priestess, the goddess
Menhit Menhit (also spelt Menchit) was originally a Nubian war goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. Her name depicts a warrior status, as it means ''(she who) massacres''. Due to the aggressive attributes possessed by and hunting methods used by l ...
, the shrine of the goddess ( àter), the goddess Isis, and lastly ''goddess: (Cobra (Uraeus) at base of deity (ntr))''. The
Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle te ...
uses the plural of the last example, "3 × "god flag" with Cobra at each base of flag". The story of the Rosetta Stone has the king (the priests of the king) listing his reasons for being honored, and in return, "The Gods and Goddesses (plural)" reward him. The last two-thirds of the Rosetta Stone relates how he will be honored, including erecting the Rosetta Stone, for all to read. Another example of the hieroglyph usage is as adornments upon the hieroglyph for "shrine", and also for "buildings".


The Blue Crown

Before the New Kingdom Period, the body of the Uraeus coiled in around in circles behind its raised head on the
Blue Crown The khepresh (''ḫprš'') was an ancient Egyptian royal headdress. It is also known as the blue crown or war crown. New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies. While it was once ...
. The king is most often depicted wearing the Blue Crown in combat and the aftermath of combat scenes. Additionally, the smaller scale king usually wore the Blue Crown when depicted in a protective group of deities. Colossal statues of the king wearing a Blue Crown are extremely rare; the typical royal statue also does not feature a Blue Crown. Also, depictions of the Blue Crown with its Uraeus does not decorate royal tombs until late in the Ramesside Period. The deity-on-earth king was thought to require extra protection in his mortal form, emphasizing the protective qualities of the Uraeus. The Uraeus was usually crafted from precious metals, most commonly gold and less frequently silver, and adorned with gemstones.


Seraphim

The
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
ic
seraphim A seraph (, "burning one"; plural seraphim ) is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Chris ...
, found in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
and later
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, and
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic traditions, are frequently associated with serpents and are thought to have derived from the concept of uraeus. Multiple-winged uraei amulets are well represented in
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. Mettinger, Tryggve N. D., "Seraphim", in Becking, Bob & van der P. W, Horst & van der toorn, Karel. (1999). ''Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible''. Journal of Biblical Literature. 115. 10.2307/3266385. p. 743


See also

*
Deshret Deshret ( egy, dšrt "Red One") was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet (Black Land), the fertile Nile river basin. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it fo ...
– Red Crown of Lower Egypt *
Hedjet Hedjet ( egy, wikt:ḥḏt#Etymology 2, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaoh, pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, t ...
– White Crown of Upper Egypt *
Pschent The pschent (; Greek '' ψχέντ'') was the double crown worn by rulers in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemty (''sḫm.ty''), the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt and ...
– Double Crown of Lower & Upper Egypt *
Atef Atef is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified as os ...
Hedjet Hedjet ( egy, wikt:ḥḏt#Etymology 2, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaoh, pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, t ...
Crown with feathers identified with
Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
*
Khepresh The khepresh (''ḫprš'') was an ancient Egyptian royal headdress. It is also known as the blue crown or war crown. New Kingdom pharaohs are often depicted wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies. While it was once c ...
– Blue or War Crown also called Royal Crown *
Khat Khat or qat ( ''ch’at''; Oromo: ''Jimaa'', so, qaad, khaad, khat or chat, ar, القات ''al-qāt'') is a flowering plant native to eastern and southern Africa. Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant, which is said to cause e ...
– head cloth worn by the nobility *
N-red crown (n hieroglyph) Deshret ( egy, dšrt "Red One") was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet (Black Land), the fertile Nile river basin. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it fo ...
*
N-water ripple (n hieroglyph) The total number of distinct Egyptian hieroglyphs increased over time from several hundred in the Middle Kingdom to several thousand during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. In 1928/1929 Alan Gardiner published an overview of hieroglyphs, Gardiner's sign ...
*
Nekhbet Nekhbet (; also spelt Nekhebit) is an early predynastic local goddess in Egyptian mythology, who was the patron of the city of Nekheb (her name meaning ''of Nekheb''). Ultimately, she became the patron of Upper Egypt and one of the two patron d ...
– Woman or vulture wearing an
Atef Atef is the specific feathered white crown of the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris. It combines the Hedjet, the white crown of Upper Egypt, with curly ostrich feathers on each side of the crown for the Osiris cult. The feathers are identified as os ...
Crown *
Serpent symbolism The serpent, or snake, is one of the oldest and most widespread mythology, mythological symbols. The word is derived from Latin ''serpens'', a crawling animal or snake. Snakes have been associated with some of the oldest rituals known to mankind an ...


Citations


General sources

* Alchin, Linda
"The Uraeus Symbol"
Egyptian Gods. Siteseen Ltd, n.d. Web. * Budge, Sir E. A. Wallis. ''An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, in Two Volumes'' (Dover Publications, Inc, New York), c 1920, Dover Edition, c 1978. Large categorized listings of Hieroglyphs, Vol. 1, pp. xcvii–cxlvii (97–147, 50 pgs.). * Dunand, Françoise, and Christiane Zivie-Coche. "Cosmonogies, Creation, and Time: Order and Disorder in Creation". ''Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE''. Ithaca: Cornell U, 2004. 347. Print.
"Egyptian Symbols: Uraeus"
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Egyptian-Gods.org, n.d. Web. * Hagen, Rose-Marie & Rainer Hagen. ''Egypt; People, Gods, Pharaohs'' (Barnes and Noble Books, New York), c 2003 (originally:
Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, pu ...
, GmbH, Koln), c 2003, 1999, p. 202. * Hardwick, Tom. "The Iconography of the Blue Crown in the New Kingdom". ''The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', vol. 89, 2003, pp. 117–141. . * Johnson, Sally J. (1990). ''The Cobra Goddess of Ancient Egypt: Predynastic, Early Dynastic, and Old Kingdom Periods''. Kegan Paul International. . * Reeves, Nicholas. ''Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries, a Year-by-Year Chronicle'' (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London), c. 2000. See "1920, The Golden Uraeus of Sesostris II from el-Lahun", p. 157.


External links

* {{Ancient Egyptian religion footer Ancient Egyptian symbols Egyptian artefact types Egyptian legendary creatures Egyptian hieroglyphs Nile Delta Snakes in art Wadjet